Emergency Planning for Cultural Heritage Collections in Williamsport, Pennsylvania

FAIN: PG-51212-11

Lycoming College (Williamsport, PA 17701-5100)
Janet Hurlbert (Project Director: May 2010 to March 2013)

An assessment of emergency preparedness and training at five cultural heritage institutions in central Pennsylvania. The archival, photograph, and artifact collections housed at the participating repositories support research by genealogists, local historians, filmmakers, students and faculty, and journalists on the history of Pennsylvania.

The Williamsport, Pennsylvania area has five library and museum facilities that represent the cultural heritage of our area with many materials that also have national significance. These institutions include Lycoming College, the Pennsylvania College of Technology, the James V. Brown Library, the Peter J. McGovern Little League Museum, and the Lycoming Historical Society. On behalf of these institutions, Snowden Library, Lycoming College, is requesting a grant to accomplish two goals: assessment of the five archives by a qualified consultant to identify areas of concern in view of emergency preparedness, furnishing brief written reports for each institution; and a concluding half day workshop for the institutions to consider the emergency preparedness analysis and discuss ways that the five organizations could establish specific plans for assisting each other in the event of an emergency.